It occurs to me that we have about ten or so active baseball threads on the boards this past week, three or so dealing with last night and the Cubs alone, but none dealing with 1/4 of the equation–the Florida Marlins.
Now, I know this is not a venerable franchise, with a thousand years of history and curses and players like Ring Lardner Jr. characters and a stadium built by the ancient Egyptians, but I know there’s a lot of FloriDopers and I just wanted to ask how people feel down there.
If I were you, frankly I’d be feeling pretty neglected. Everybody is fixated on the Cubs or Sox reaching the Series and/or the rivalry with the Yanks, and nobody up in the East is talking much about you guys. Also, the team is so new (1987?) even though Florida’s history with the MLB is so venerable thanks to spring training, I wonder if they have a lot of diehard fans yet.
Although there’s one really cool thing about the Fish–one of their farm teams is named the Albuquerque Isotopes. Somebody has a great sense of humor. Do they have a Hungry Hungry Homer dancing in the outfield during the Stretch?
I’m afraid there are very few rabid fans of the Fish. Their attendance during the regular season was lamentable and the fans that did come were as likely to be vacationers rooting for their home team as Marlins fans.
I actually quite like their team and would be happy to see Pudge get his ring. I don’t imagine Miami will be taking too much notice of the victory though.
Oh well, the Marlins seem like nice guys, whoever they are. And it was funny but Telemundo this morning was all about the happy Latino fans down Miami, while the English networks were all about the woe.
The team was formed in 1995, won the Big Game in 1997, and was gutted in the months following the victory. The team has great players, a great manager, and a lot of momentum and stick-to-it-iveness. Fan attendance was about 16,000 on average for a 65,000 seat stadium, the laughing stock of ESPN. the reaction locally has been a great joy, with many people saying how they had been fans for the entire season. Me? I’ve been to more games at Wrigley than Pro Player (zero), and while I am happy the Fins won, I’d have been happier with the Cubbies.
Shh, I can’t say this too loud as I’m surrounded by depressed Cub fans, but I like them Marlins. I just think that they were the better team. Next time I visit Chicago, I’m bringing my goat. I bet they’ll let me in anywhere.[SIZE=1]
Fair-weather-fan here. I don’t follow baseball, or sports in general, but it is nice to see an FL team doing well. Doesn’t matter if you are a die hard baseball fan or not, when your home team is doing well, you root for them. I actually won a couple bets these last couple dates with a female friend of mine from Chi-town. I said if the Fish won game 7, she’d have to join me in a hot tub date! I win, and I’ll see her in a month to collect!
What Unclebill said. The Marlins had a great following during the 1997 season, and people in South Florida were excited about baseball. Barely had the champagne bottles been popped when Mr. Blockbuster himself dismantled the team. It’s not surprising that enthusiasm and fandom dissipated from South Florida altogether – I don’t blame the fans for that at all.
Methinks the Marlins should be offering that Chicago chap a job as team mascot. I’m absolutely sure he’s totally open to the idea of relocating right about now.
The only reason I might be willing to root for the Fish over the Evil Empire is that Pudge Rodriguez is finally getting the exposure he deserves after languishing in the Texas ghetto for so long. (Yeah, I know the Rangers had a pretty good team back in the mid-90s. They never really put it together, though.) Other than that, a Yankee-Fish Series would just be… I don’t know, odd. It would work, I guess, but it wouldn’t be inspiring. Like chicken on a pizza.
Long time fan here, and boy am I stoked. Well, about as long-term as you can get with the Marlins. I grew up in Florida, and the team was awarded when I was 12, and I instantly became a fan. Hey, it was certainly better than jumping on the Braves bandwagon at the time, like the rest of my friends. They played an exhibition game in Jacksonville before the inaugural 1993 season, and I remeber getting the autographs of Jeff Conine and Chuck Carr. I watched the team get better and better over the first five years, until they put together that amazing 1997 team.
Then of course, Huizenga gutted the team, and they became the laughingstock of the league. It became really tough to follow them, particularly from Chicago, where I was living at the time. They got no national exposure, and I probably went 4 years without seeing one of their games. Looked at the standings occasionally only to confirm that yep, they still sucked. For the last couple of years, I looked at the standings more often, as they flirted with .500, but still rarely if ever saw them on television.
This season started just like previous, but around the all-star break, I started paying attention again. It seemed really unlikely, but here they are. I really like the team this year. Great young players like Cabrerra, Willis, and Beckett. Pudge is the first big-name free agent they’ve had in years. Lee and Lowell are finally living up to their potential. I’ve been glued to the television this postseason. I’ve watched more baseball the last 3 weeks than I probably have in the last 5 years combined. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that the White Sox are my second team, and I can’t stand the Cubs.
Bring on the Red Sox or Yankees! (but hopefully the Red Sox…)
I sometimes feel like I’m the only Marlins fan. I’ve had season tickets since they started. (which is 1993, by the way). I know everybody hates us, but I just have to live with it. I’ll be at the games Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in row 9.